Abstract:

STEM is observed through a gendered lens. Various research aimed to uncover the gender-specific competencies or choices that contribute to a job in the STEM sector and seek to find a way to inspire more women to follow this kind of profession. Despite the high demand in STEM professions, women lag to follow in careers such as science and technology. The common notion that high school girls are less inclined to enroll in high school science and mathematics have been a cultural and social perception, which influenced a girl’s decision to enroll into non-STEM subjects. Most researchers identified anxiety and the origins of patriarchy beliefs as the reason why girls are less interested in STEM subjects. This dilemma continues amid various campaigns aimed at promoting the adoption of STEM subjects by women, who provide an underutilized pool of expertise at a time of tremendous need for STEM professionals. The UAE and other neighbouring Muslim countries are perceived by a social stigma correlated with STEM occupations and gender stereotypes. This is however not the case, when looking at the statistics of the UAE and Middle East and North African (MENA) statistics and the enrollment of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects, in comparison with STEM female participation in the United States and Europe. This paper gathered secondary data from the OECD, UNESCO, PISA, and STATISTA to compare gender stereotypes in high school subjects such as chemistry, engineering, math, and physics among female and male students, as well as STEM enrolment of female and male students in the UAE and other Arabic countries to that of America and Europe. Despite the Western world's incorrect stereotypical view of Arabic women and female STEM participation in general, the findings of this study proved the emergence of female STEM participation among Arabic women is higher than Western countries. This paper advocates debunking the STEM myth of stereotyping science subjects as masculine, as it has a greater negative effect on female students' STEM ambitions than male students.

Keywords:

STEM, gender, stereotypes, United Arab Emirates, Higher Colleges of Technology.